It starts with a message of comfort before listeners are shepherded through the fast-moving and intricate telling of the prophesy, birth and resurrection of Christ.
George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” an ornate oratorio, has become a fixture during the holiday season. And this weekend, the Orange Coast College Chamber Singers will present a special rendition: The “El Mesías” performance will be entirely in Spanish.
“Much of the music we grew up on and learned on is from the Western European classical tradition, but our profession, like others, is challenged to branch out more and be more diverse and inclusive,” Eliza Rubenstein, Orange Coast College’s choral director and conductor, said of choosing this particular piece.
“I love the big masterworks of European music,” Rubenstein said, “but I also want to find ways for our music to bridge cultures and offer interesting and challenging experiences to our performers and audience members.”
The Chamber Singers will use a Spanish edition created by San Diego musician Rubén Valenzuela, the founder of Bach Collegium San Diego. Valenzuela thought to adapt the reverent classic into Spanish, he told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2022, as he grew up hearing only excerpts of it translated into Spanish at his Los Angeles church.
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The Chamber Singers will be one of the first ensembles in the world to perform this version of the timeless work, said Rubenstein.
The ensemble began by learning and familiarizing themselves with the music, said Kayden Begg, a music student who sings bass in the choir.
They started with count singing — singing the notes to learn the rhythm and the music — before adding in the appropriate words. Not everyone in the ensemble speaks Spanish, Begg said, and so many learned the pronunciations together.
The Chamber Singers have performed in…
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